The Light in me Greets the Light in you Day 1

Crosstrain: Today, this is the day, go forth, not knowing what I wall become or be doing in 108 days. I'm thankful first of all be taking this step of faith into the Ultimate Yogi zone. I'll not be alone as I have about 500 or so people on board with me. This is going to be fun. I'm not alone:) Today, I was able to open the brown package. Didn't want to because I had the worst experience in buying history. Please do not support Deep Discounts as they are beyond terrible in serving their customers. I hope this negative review doesn't get them more business but don't say I didn't tell you. Now I move forward in love and joy that the program is here. Thank you almighty. ;) I was feeling so under the dirt before the package came, then it came and I couldn't even open it. My joy had gone.:( As the day went on, I thought about how yoga is going to change me and I fear what that change will be. But yet, I'm going with it. Okay, Okay okay. I know you want to know how did it go. It went well. I was terrified because some classes I had been were a bit much, such as Bikram and Hot Power Yoga. I enjoyed the heat of the Bikram but could not see myself doing the same poses repeated, all the time. But… I still had the yoga bug on me, in me, with me. Any how the candles are light and DVD is in the mat is on the floor. Here is the beginning. yea, it ain't pretty, cute or cool. But it's me. On the mat. Thank you Yariv for being there for me as I waited and for the encouragement that I am going to get out of this program with the group on FaceBook. So, I couldn't do a few things and that is to be expected. I just kept reminding myself, breath through movement. Breathe, exhale, don't hold your breath. I don't have to be perfect just perfect for my body. So, that thing, you know, that pose where you try to grab your left hand with your right hand, while your leg is bent… boy was that fun.. I I think I was grabbing my thigh. My hands were no where near talking to each other:) Now that should have been a picture. The balancing was not so bad. Quite a bit unsteadiness but definitely more steady in the left leg. The left arm under right and touch your hands, I'll have to learn this names, but not now. My left hand could only grab my wrist. Did better the other way around. I love breathing into my rhomboids though. Oh ya, that was good. I did not get to the second DVD as I thought I was done. I was done. I couldn't do any more, given the mood, etc. All these things to make a difference in your practice. So, I'll do it tomorrow and I'll be READY!!!!!! Yes, yoga is for me.

The Days Before I become an Ultimate Yogini

Well, these are the days that I will remember how …. I… .waited….. and waited…… and waited for my Ultimate Yogi set to arrive. I think the day is here and I'm a bit nervous. It has taken 2 weeks for this package to get here, and now….. it sits on the Kitchen table, afraid to be touched. Once you start, that is the opening into a new life, new path, new journey, new ideas, new body, new passion. a Yogini will be born. I am going to make sure I listen each day to what Bryan Kest says and that is to breathe.. Breathe through. Yoga is breath. Its' all about the breath in motion. Not how long you can hold a pose. Not if you can even get into a pose. It's the movement through breath. I think this was like a kettle bell experience where you move and swing and breath an it feels amazing. So, I just want to say, Opening day is coming.. I feel great. I have to just get on the mat, make a place and let the healing begin within. I've been praying for a change for a long time.. Long…time.. loonnnnnng timmmmmmmmme.. lol. I'm going to go slow. Accept, breathe and give thanks for being a Yogini:)

Bryan Kest

I just stumbled upon this other all wonderful, person who has also gotten the light. He has been doing yoga for over 30 or so years. Looks like his father who was a physician said, *You're going to do Yoga* it's good for you. Wonderful father. I guess Bryan thins so too because he took to yoga like a fish takes to water. I loved this article so much I had to copy and paste it here. I need to read this more often so that when I start trying to compare myself to someone else's progress, I have to remember, I'm who I am and love, what I can do. Here is the article and the link to his page.

Stop the Madness There is no enlightenment at the end of a pose. Actually, there is no end to these poses. It seems to me in a general sense we as a society are enamored with the mystical, mysterious, the unseen & unknown. We are looking for the hidden teaching, the secret scroll or fountain of youth, and of course heaven and hell. Yoga practice seems to be used to access some deeper dimension or some enlightened state. Understand right now there is no connection between flexibility and enlightenment. Your physical capabilities have nothing to do with higher consciousness. The depth achieved in any posture only has the ability to hurt or help your body. These asanas are simply tools to access different places in your body and care for them. The reason there is no end to the asanas is because our bodies constantly change and therefore so do are our boundaries. The depth achieved in any given asana depends on many known and many more unknown circumstances: for example, our age, injuries, job and daily activities, the type of food we have eaten and how our bodies are responding to the weather or temperature, etc. What about the position of the moon? Well, we all know what the moon does to the ocean in the form of tides. Well, we are about 85% salt water; don’t you think it is also affecting you? Maybe you cannot quantify that effect along with zillions of other effects, but certainly you are being affected. I do not believe you could intellectually comprehend all the different forces playing upon us. Yet what you can do is become very silent, so you are not distracted and then begin to feel how these forces playing upon us are affecting us, and according to how we feel, we can then make intelligent decisions as to how far, how deep, how much, we explore in any pose. That is how these postures become healing, when we are honoring what we are feeling. We certainly can comprehend that! So please stop worrying about how much you can do! STOP judging yourself and others on physical abilities and prowess, stop believing MORE is better, stop the madness! This is not a competition. It is actually the opposite. It is meant to help force us from our competitive mentality. Now, do you understand there is no enlightenment at the end of an asana! Enlightenment is higher states of awareness. Higher states of awareness is a by product of mental development and conscious evolution. Mental development is a by-product of hard work and effort. Conscious evolution means having the desire to evolve. I do not believe you would be reading this if you did not have the desire to evolve as well as I do not believe you would have come to this training without some willingness to work hard and give effort. That being said, now what is mystical? What is powerful? Why do we believe that it is mysterious, unseen and unknown? Who found the mystical? Who became truly powerful? What did they say? What was their teaching? Firstly, is there anything more mystical and powerful than life? Why does mystical and powerful have to be otherworldly? Why do people constantly look outside their circumstances for meaning and teachings? It’s not on a sacred scroll; it’s in the mirror! It’s in the smile of a child; it’s in the smell of a rose. It’s in that injury, and it’s in that divorce. It’s in that bankruptcy, and it’s that kiss! Most of us can agree there is nothing more special, mysterious, mystical, powerful and important than life! It seems to me if I would want to access the special, mysterious, mystical, powerful and most important, I simply need to live my life more fully. I need to somehow peel away the dullness and heighten my sensitivity and alertness. I need to start sucking the juice out of every single moment of the most precious gift ever to be had, “my life!” I see this in the life and teachings of all the masters, poets, god-like beings and yogis. Jesus said “love,” “forgive,” have “compassion” and “don’t judge.” Buddha said “observe,” “be silent,” and “serve.” Mother Teresa was a life of service, and Gandhi was a life of truth and non-violence. The goal of yoga according to Patanjali I am told is citta vrtti nirodha, which means to be silent or free from mental fluctuations. These lives and these teachings are only esoteric in their simplicity. We are so busy and have become so complex, being simple is actually esoteric. These lives and these teachings did not in any way express that there is anything needed to access the ultimate beyond what exists in our lives right now! This is what our yoga practice is trying to accomplish. Not white light descending from heaven and engulfing you, not energy released from the base of your spine going up through your crown chakra so you become a human lightening bolt, not a halo floating on top of your head. Simply heightened states of awareness, enlightenment, becoming more and more aware which gives more and more insight, which brings wisdom and gives choice. With that wisdom and choice, we become the masters of our destiny and at peace in our life. We see more and more clearly how we create our own suffering, how we can create our own prosperity, and we begin to live the mystical life. Welcome to Power Yoga.

Sunday October 24, 2010

Sunday:
Leg Pull over 15 x 2 Level 1
Arm Pull over 15 x 2 Level 1
Seated Row 15 level 1

Fennel Juice

I have come to enjoy my Fennel juice. I juice the complete head, body what ever. Green Happy Juice (with Fennel) Ingredients: 1 fennel bulb 1 large cucumber 1 wedge green or purple cabbage 4 kale leaves 2 oranges 1 apple Procedure: 1.) Peel oranges. 2.) Juice all ingredients through juicer. 3.) Pour into a pretty glass, sip and enjoy!

Leah Sarago - Lower Body Extreme Elongation by 791123eka

Hot Power Yoga and more

Today I went to class in Easton at a studio called Open Doors. Very nice facility for hot yoga practice. The lights are lowered and the room is heated to over 80 degrees. I had the teacher take my photo and this is what she got. it's a start. Class does draw you into your breath You have no choice but to concentrate on breathing because your body is so twisted into poses you want your breath to hold you up. Yoga is deep people. Real deep. I'm enjoying it but I do like Savasana. You can guess what pose that is. In Savasana it's essential that the body be placed in a neutral position. Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet on the floor, and lean back onto your forearms. Lift your pelvis slightly off the floor and, with your hands, push the back of the pelvis toward the tailbone, then return the pelvis to the floor. Inhale and slowly extend the right leg, then the left, pushing through the heels. Release both legs, softening the groins, and see that the legs are angled evenly relative to the mid-line of the torso, and that the feet turn out equally. Narrow the front pelvis and soften (but don't flatten) the lower back. With your hands lift the base of the skull away from the back of the neck and release the back of the neck down toward the tailbone. If you have any difficulty doing this, support the back of the head and neck on a folded blanket. Broaden the base of the skull too, and lift the crease of the neck diagonally into the center of the head. Make sure your ears are equidistant from your shoulders. Reach your arms toward the ceiling, perpendicular to the floor. Rock slightly from side to side and broaden the back ribs and the shoulder blades away from the spine. Then release the arms to the floor, angled evenly relative to the mid-line of torso. Turn the arms outward and stretch them away from the space between the shoulder blades. Rest the backs of the hands on the floor as close as you comfortably can to the index finger knuckles. Make sure the shoulder blades are resting evenly on the floor. Imagine the lower tips of the shoulder blades are lifting diagonally into your back toward the top of the sternum. From here, spread the collarbones. In addition to quieting the physical body in Savasana, it's also necessary to pacify the sense organs. Soften the root of the tongue, the wings of the nose, the channels of the inner ears, and the skin of the forehead, especially around the bridge of the nose between the eyebrows. Let the eyes sink to the back of the head, then turn them downward to gaze at the heart. Release your brain to the back of the head. Stay in this pose for 5 minutes for every 30 minutes of practice. To exit, first roll gently with an exhalation onto one side, preferably the right. Take 2 or 3 breaths. With another exhalation press your hands against the floor and lift your torso, dragging your head slowly after. The head should always come up last. Wheat grass. This is growing so wonderfully Here is a photo from day 5. Look at day 5 and the difference in 1 day, the last photos are day 6. and now day 6 photos, Sunday May 12, 2013